IITYVA 59

Chapter 59

“…An envoy from the Belzesti Empire?”

The Emperor frowned.

The attendant, bowing his head, set down the tray he was holding in front of the Emperor.

“These are the related documents, Your Majesty.”

“…I see. You may leave now.”

After offering a proper bow, the attendant exited.

The Emperor picked up the letter resting on the tray.

I stared blankly at the sight, then slowly furrowed my brows.

An envoy from Belzesti, out of nowhere?

But why?

Elberque and Belzesti were not on particularly good terms.

Certainly not close enough to exchange envoys like this.

“I wonder what wind blew through Duke Servante all of a sudden.”

The Emperor, skimming the letter, curved his lips into a smile devoid of warmth.

“And such a secretive wind, at that.”

Currently, spies planted by Aches were scattered all across Belzesti.

Even Quiel, whom I had dispatched, was keeping tabs everywhere.

After all, to avenge Harnen, we needed to keep watch over Belzesti’s movements.

And yet, to dispatch an envoy with such secrecy that none of those eyes caught wind of it…

For now, the exact reason was unclear.

But by flipping the thought around, the scope of possible reasons could be narrowed down.

For instance—if the reason was of such extreme confidentiality that not even a whisper could be allowed to leak out.

And there are only a handful of reasons that would require secrecy of that magnitude.

“Judging by how tightly this was concealed, perhaps someone here in Elberque whispered into the Duke’s ear.”

As smirked faintly.

The Emperor set the letter down with a shrug.

“Since they’ve gone to such lengths to wrap this envoy mission in secrecy, let’s sit back and watch what they’re up to.”

The Emperor leaned back into his chair.

With the motion, strands of his navy-blue hair slid softly down.

“Surely my foolish uncle hasn’t gone so far as to collude with a foreign power, has he? Hah.”

He said it in jest, laughing, but I couldn’t bring myself to laugh along.

That Grand Duke Baharman might ally with a foreign power wasn’t much of a concern; he would be removed soon anyway.

But why, of all nations, would he turn to the Belzesti Empire?

That thought kept gnawing at me.

As I brooded, As spoke, his eyes fixed steadily on me.

“Einra.”

“Hm?”

“There’s a greenhouse near the forest that borders the Grand Duke’s estate.”

“A greenhouse?”

I blinked in surprise.

I’d never heard of such a thing before—certainly not five years ago. Could it be something newly built?

As smiled, his eyes curling gently.

“If you’d like, shall we go see the flowers later?”

“Sure, I’d like that. Let’s go.”

After all, no matter how much I racked my brain about Belzesti’s intentions, there was nothing useful to be gained right now.

Taking the chance to visit the greenhouse with As and clear my head didn’t sound bad at all.

The Emperor, watching the two of us with half-lidded eyes, shook his head.

“Even if war were to break out tomorrow, you’d still be set on a flower-viewing today.”

He muttered nonsense, but I didn’t bother to retort; the thought of going with As was already making me look forward to it.

Thus ended the audience with the Emperor.

Serenia’s Grand Duke’s aide, Violetti, was busier than ever these days.

She had gathered incriminating material on Grand Duke Baharman’s heir, secured witnesses who could serve as both bait and testimony, and was laying the groundwork to bring about the Baharman family’s downfall.

All this on top of her usual, ongoing duties.

And right now, her walk toward the torture chamber was part of those “routine duties.”

As she read through a report to save time, Violetti suddenly came to a halt.

Glancing out the window, she caught sight of the greenhouse, completed about half a year ago.

And of her lord, escorting the Spirit Master inside.

A greenhouse, hm…

Her golden eyes narrowed slightly.

That greenhouse—formally called the Cecile Grass Garden—was not originally part of the estate.

It had been built after Aches succeeded the title of Grand Duke, following the sudden death of his predecessor.

Now that I think about it, it’s rather strange.

Originally, Aches had shown no interest whatsoever in flowers.

No matter how beautiful, flowers would wither soon enough—ephemeral things.

Yet one day, out of nowhere, he had asked her:

“If someone likes flowers, does that usually mean they’re a good person?”

Puzzled, she had answered that yes, generally it did.

Since then, she had often caught him studying plant encyclopedias.

And eventually, he even had a greenhouse built.

What wind had made him suddenly take interest in flowers, she didn’t know. Nor did she need to. So she let the question go.

Instead, she returned to an older, unanswered question she’d carried ever since meeting her lord.

Yes, she was busy now.

But it was nothing compared to him.

Her workload was heavy, yet his was heavier still.

…And yet, not once has he faltered in carrying it all.

Even with enough time left to escort the Spirit Master to see the greenhouse.

Did he perhaps have two bodies?

Shaking off the absurd thought, Violetti resumed walking.

The torture chamber, obscured behind the Cecile Grass Garden, was located underground, connected by a stone gate.

Pressing the pendant around her neck against the gate, she triggered a flash of platinum light. With a grinding sound, the stone door swung open.

Her footsteps echoed against the damp stone floor until finally, she reached her destination.

“Ah, at last you’ve arrived, Count Chevila.”

A languid, melodic voice filled the chamber.

Violetti bowed toward the man already waiting.

“Warlock Harnen, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, quite a while. A whole two days, in fact.”

Harnen smiled brightly, though his next words came through clenched teeth: “That damned Grand Duke.”

Violetti pretended not to hear the insult to her lord.

“I’ve read the report you sent. You said you discovered who cast the spell on this man.”

Her golden eyes shifted to the figure slumped in the corner of the chamber.

The man, wrapped tightly in a black robe from head to toe, had his eyes shut as though resigned to everything.

Captured a week ago near the northwestern border, he was a skilled warlock—and the true culprit behind the fire in the Berbena Forest of Count Sachsen’s territory.

After igniting the blaze with his magic, he had manipulated a commoner named Selena from a nearby village, making it appear as though she had committed the crime.

Then, while everyone’s attention was focused on the girl and the raging fire, he had tried to flee across the border.

He must have made the fire so large deliberately, to buy time against the Spirit Master.

A smaller fire would have been extinguished too quickly.

Not that it made much difference—the Spirit Master’s power was overwhelming regardless.

In the end, the man was caught by Violetti, working alongside imperial investigators, and immediately brought to Serenia’s torture chamber.

But why had he set fire to Sachsen’s lands, of all places?

There was no gain, and plenty of risk.

And he knew Elberque housed a Spirit Master contracted with the Water Spirit King, too.

Yet no matter what torture was inflicted, he had refused to open his mouth.

When that dragged on, Violetti had searched for other clues instead—and discovered the man was bound by a curse.

But the sorcery was too complex for her alone, so she had called on Harnen’s aid.

He had deciphered it in a single day.